This is a very interesting quote from Pound's writings:

"As I write this (February 1933) the fascist government
has taken the lead over others in Europe and America,
recommending that where factories need less work
they reduce the number of hours per day either for all
or for special sets of men, rather than reduce the
number of men employed.
    AND that instead of overtime for men already on
the pay-roll, they take on yet more employees."
     --EP
      JEFFERSON and/or MUSSOLINI,  Chapter XXXII, "Party"

Of course, the statistical record showed that the workers' real wages
declined during the period from 1922 til 1939 until they were at the lowest
level of any country in Europe (except Jugoslavia).

Once the Labor Unions were either destroyed or turned into arms of the
fascist party, it was easy for state controlled industries and private
business owners to lower the workers' wages as much as they wanted, and to
set their hours as they saw fit.  Workers were exploited to the hilt, but
Pound ignored this.  Why?  Answers will differ.

Pound's calling for improvement of the workers lot while praising Mussolini
is one of the most convoluted examples of intellectual gymnastics in
history.  It is like declaiming against rape while riding on horseback with
the hordes of Genghis Khan during one of their rampages (Pound does praise
Genghis Khan as one of the great world leaders, so perhaps that is not such
a far-fetched comparison).

Maybe it is somewhat like decrying murder while being a member of Charles
Manson & Co. (but not one of the memers who actually committed murder.  I'm
sure there were some groupies who did not kill anyone).

---Wei
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com